


Familiarity

by Indian_Ink



Category: Rise of the Guardians (2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Canon Compliant, Domestic Fluff, F/M, Sappy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-25
Updated: 2013-05-17
Packaged: 2017-12-09 10:51:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 3,978
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/773360
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Indian_Ink/pseuds/Indian_Ink
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A series of SweetTooth drabbles done for a tumblr domesticity meme.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Who leaves their stuff around?

**Author's Note:**

> Due to the fact that some of the questions in domesticity memes deal with things Guardians wouldn't normally have to deal with (DVRs, heating systems, etc.), some of the drabbles take place in a Human AU.

When December approaches, the Guardians drift apart, sinking into their work to make the holidays extra-special. There are toys in needs of finishing touches, presents to wrap, and reindeer to exercise. Sandy begins weaving dreams of dancing sugarplums and Jack brings snow days behind him wherever he goes. Even after North makes his annual trip, Christmas candies are only replaced by the chocolates upon chocolates Valentine’s Day and Easter bring, and chocolates mean loose baby teeth. Spring’s approach means three of the Guardians can begin to relax, but Tooth and Bunnymund aren’t so lucky. 

Bunnymund takes his Easter preparations very seriously, never leaving the Warren for anyone, no matter how tempting the offer. Carrot cakes, North’s special eggnog, not even a challenge to a race from Jack could coax him out of the Warren. The pooka was as stubborn as the rock his sentinels were carved from. 

But Toothiana knows something the boys don’t, however. 

They all know that Bunny has to break his routine _sometime_ to keep his creativity fresh, but she’s the only one who has evidence. 

Easter isn’t just the time of Easter egg hunts and chocolate. It’s about new life and the return of spring, and if there’s one thing Bunnymund knows beside chocolate, it’s gardens. 

The climate around the Tooth Palace is too warm for snow to touch it. Would-be blizzards turn into sheets of rain. It seems Bunny knows this, because little clay pots full of soil mysteriously appear on window sills and the rims of the tower platforms every spring. Winter’s last snows melt as they drift up into her mountains, and little green sprouts emerge from the dirt, growing into flowers. One year the palace turned into a garden of yellow crocuses, and the next it was deep purple tulips. She never sees Bunny drop off the seeds, but she knows it’s him. 

She doesn’t have any reason to tell the others. It’s just his way of letting her know he’s taking breaks so she doesn’t force him to. 

What a silly rabbit.


	2. Who uses all the hot water?

“Toothy?” Aster knocks on the front door of the apartment before coming in and locking it behind him. “You home?” 

Nothing but the sound of hissing water responds. It sounds as though it’s coming from the bathroom, so he treks his way through the maze of cardboard boxes towards it. 

His fiancée’s voice comes from behind the door as he approaches. “You know, you’re starting to worry me. For as long as we’ve known each other, I hoped you would start getting my name right before now.” 

“Aw, c’mon, Toothy,” Aster says, grinning as he opens the door. “S’just a nickname-” 

Tonia has just finished wrapping herself in a towel, judging from the surprised look on her face and the water dripping from her short, dark hair. Aster’s teasing grin dissolves from his face but a grin of her own quickly appears. “Sorry, sweetheart. I didn’t know you were so eager to join me.” 

He manages a choking sound. “I thought- That’s not-” 

Tonia laughs and pats him on the arm before grabbing her neatly folded clothes from the back of the toilet. “Just teasing, Aster! I figured I'd give our new shower a little test drive. The water pressure’s a little low but I’m sure the landlord won’t mind fixing it.” 

“Uh huh.” Despite the fact that he’s still red in the face, Aster manages a smirk. “That’s good, but how much hot water did you leave me?” 

“Oh. Um.” Tonia bites at her lip, then tucks a strand of hair behind her ear – her two major tells. 

“Out, princess,” he says, gently pushing her out the door and into the hallway. “We’re gonna need to learn how to share _everything_.” 

There’s silence after he closes the door. For a heartbeat, he worries that he’s upset her. 

But in the next heartbeat, she giggles at him from the other side of the door and he can't help but smile.


	3. Who calls up the super when the heat’s not working?

Her co-workers call her a diva, but she insists she isn't demanding - she’s just very particular. When she goes into a barbershop, she knows just how short her hair must be cut and just what colour dye has to go in just the right places. Her dental tools are always laid out on the tray just right before she begins a check-up. 

But if there is one thing Tonia is particular about, it is that the apartment must never go below a certain temperature. 

She must have retreated under the covers in her sleep because she wakes up in the dark, her hands tangled in Aster’s night shirt and her cheek resting against his chest. As soon as she pokes her head out from under the sheets, she swears quietly. She’s surprised that her breath doesn’t cloud in the air. 

Her fiancé snorts in his sleep, almost as if in reply. 

“Aster!” she hisses at him. “Aren’t you freezing?” 

He doesn’t hear her. She tucks her head back under the covers. It wasn’t a good question to ask him anyway. If he was freezing, she wouldn’t have moved closer to him for warmth in her sleep. 

She has to crawl over him in the half-dark to get to the bedside table that holds the bedroom phone. Lying sideways across him, she dials the super’s office. 

It’s only when she starts yammering into the phone in annoyed Russian while a booming voice laughs loud enough for him to hear does Aster finally wake up. He watches, confused for a moment, until Tonia slam the receiver down. 

“...Happy Christmas?” he ventures sleepily. 

“North let the pilot light go out in the night and he didn’t notice!” Tonia says, by way of explanation. She curls around him, her head ducking down underneath the covers. “Crazy Cossack,” she says, her voice muffled. 

Aster laughs and pats her on the back. Hopefully North has learned his lesson about particularities.


	4. Who has the season pass on their DVR?

“I don’t get why you wear those things if you hate them so much,” Aster comments, watching his fiancée peel the strappy blue heels off her feet. 

“Oh, come on. You’re a painter; I _know_ you’ve heard of ‘suffering for your art’,” she says, swinging her legs up onto the couch. Her feet end up in his lap, just like they do every day when she comes home from work. 

“Ahh, I got’cha. Well, in that case, you’re the da Vinci of lookin’ good while sticking your fingers into people’s mouths,” he says. He starts to give her a foot rub with his rough hands, paint still underneath his nails, and he grins as she starts to giggle. 

Tonia’s smile crinkles her eyes. “You spoil me, Aster.” 

“You deserve it though. Which reminds me,” he says, lifting green eyes from her feet to look at her and nodding at the TV remote in her hands. “I recorded some things for ya.” 

“You did?” she asks, eyes wide. She turns the TV on with a snap of electricity and Tonia grumbles at the dying batteries when the remote lazily carries out the commands that open the DVR menu. The foot rub has to end for a moment because she kicks her feet and makes a kind of joyful squeaking sound he can’t help but laugh at. “You got all my stories!” 

Tonia’s favourite shows consisted of a startling contrast he’s sure not many know about aside from him. The various soap operas he’s sure most would expect, but the documentaries about ancient wars and weapons? Not so much. 

His thoughts are interrupted when she leans over and pecks him on the cheek. “You are such a softie.” 

“Only for you, sheila.” 

“Liar.”


	5. The most trivial thing they argue about

It’s nighttime at the Pole, Easter morning finally having come to an end around the globe. 

When Jack had last seen him, Bunnymund was grinning and catching his breath, accepting a goblet of celebratory eggnog from the Sandman. Noticing they were running low on sweets, Jack had volunteered to go down to the kitchen and bring some back up. 

He hadn’t been expecting the elves to shove a huge wooden tray into his arms and then load it high with piles of cookies fresh from the ovens. The whole walk back up the stairs to the party room is torture, the warm smell of cookie dough and melting chocolate chips tickling at his nose. But chanting “later, later, I’ll eat some later” under his breath gets him back up the floors of the workshop. The swinging door that leads to the lounge is a welcome sight and Jack chuckles, relieved. 

“All right!” he says as he pushes the door open with a shoulder. “The cake’s not ready yet but— whoa!” Someone tugs on the bottom of his staff still nestled in the crook of his elbow, sending him spinning. Sandy steadies him just in time for Jack to catch a glimpse of two blurs bursting out of the room. 

Sandy floats gently up next to Jack’s shoulder and grabs a cookie off the tray. Smiling peacefully, the Sandman pats the younger Guardian on the shoulder. 

“Thanks Sandy, but what just happened?” 

“It is tradition!” North says, taking at least three cookies in one hand. “Every year they do this.” 

“Who—? Oh.” Jack glances around the room and notices the rabbit of the hour and a certain queen is missing. “Bunny and Tooth? They... try to knock people to the floor every Easter?” 

Sandy’s shoulders shake in a silent chuckle. Balancing the cookies in one hand, North takes the heavy tray from Jack with the other. “No, no,” he says, putting the tray down and leading the newest Guardian back out into the workshop. “She tries to check his teeth, and he refuses.” 

The workshop’s been decorated in shades of gold and mossy green for the day, but Bunny and Tooth are adding dashes of grey and blue by darting all around. First they’re up a level, then down two. All the while, there are snatches of conversation to be heard. 

“I just want to check!” 

“For the last time, Tooth—” 

“You never let me—!” 

“I _don’t_ eat on the job!” 

“Oh. So, is it also tradition to bet on who wins every year?” Jack asks, grinning the crooked grin that means nothing good is to follow. 

North chuckles softly, again laying his hand on the boy’s shoulder. “You learn quickly, my friend.”


	6. Who is the big spoon?

She hums as she shuts the jewelled windows and latches them against the pelting rain and wind. Bunny sighs behind her. “Tooth, I travel _underground_ , remember? A rain storm isn’t gonna stop me from gettin’ back to the Warren.” 

“Nuh-uh, mister.” Tooth flits about her bed chamber, gathering extra pillows and blankets in her arms. “The tunnels will be full of rain and we _both_ know how grumpy you get when you have a surprise bath.” He has to lean back when she flies right into his personal space, procuring a toothbrush from, apparently, within the pile of blankets. _Blimey, does she have them hidden everywhere?_ “Guest brush!” 

Bunny opens his mouth to try to make his case again, but she only adjusts the blankets and lifts up a spool of silvery dental floss. “Don’t forget!” she says in a singsong voice. 

He sighs again as he takes the guest brush and floss. When Tooth gets into her motherly modes, there isn’t much that could stop her. Bunnymund searches for her washbasin as Tooth continues to make extra room in the nest for him. 

When he returns, Tooth is sitting in the middle of her bed, cocooned in blankets, waiting for him. “C’mon, slowpoke!” she chirps. Bunny rolls his eyes as he strolls over and steps over the rim of her nest-bed. “No eye-rolling, Bunny. There’s no point in pretending you don’t like cuddling anymore.” 

He chuckles, grinning. “Nah, I suppose not, eh?” He settles down amidst the feathers and pillows, propping himself up on a furry elbow. Tooth, blankets and all, shifts down beside him, her winged back up against his chest. When she’s nestled in tight, he lowers himself down and drapes an arm over her. 

The storm can’t reach them here.


	7. Who steals all the blankets?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This drabble is a direct sequel to the previous one!

After the Moon chooses you, you can stay up for weeks, even months, on end without getting exhausted. But even the Man in the Moon can’t alleviate mental and creative blocks. 

As much as she’d like to pretend otherwise, Tooth succumbs to that kind of fatigue more often than the rest. There are millions of teeth to collect every night and thousands of new puzzle boxes to put together every day. Every baby born means a new set of teeth, after all! 

When Bunnymund took the oath, she hadn’t expected it to impact her so directly. He visited his three seniors as a new Guardian, but gradually showed up in the Tooth Palace more and more often, as long as Easter wasn’t right around the bend. He seems to pick up on her stress levels – maybe it was _animal instinct_ she had joked one night and he had given her a look so dry she couldn’t help but laugh – and knows when she needs to be coaxed into bed. 

So it seemed only fair that she let him stay the night, occasionally. It had taken a lot of getting used to, but after all these centuries she knew his sleeping habits now like she knew the air currents of the globe. 

As the droplets of rain race each other down her windows, Toothiana turns to look at the very large Easter Bunny asleep in her nest. 

One of his feet twitch, then retreat inside the pile of blankets he had stolen in the night. She rolls her eyes. And he still asks why she refuses to give him any before they fall asleep.


	8. Who remembers anniversaries?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This drabble was inspired quite a bit by [this fanart](http://rakamishadow.tumblr.com/post/44847996854) by Rakami Shadow!

As night falls, the constant hum of fairy wings quiet. Tonight is a night that comes once a year, so Toothiana has given her fairies the night off. Many of them have gone off to explore the nooks and crannies of the world after completing their daily duties. There will be some backup to deal with come morning, but it was nothing she and her ladies wouldn’t be able to handle. 

The fairy queen has decided to keep her appearance simple for tonight. Jewellery is much easier to manage than a dress that would interfere with her wings. When she flutters into the ballroom, she’s wearing only a heavy jewelled choker and a set of matching bracelets. 

Bunnymund is waiting for her, but he’s preoccupied, staring up at the intricate mosaics around the walls. A hundred Sisters of Flight dance around the walls, immortalized in glittering tiles. 

“They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” she asks, getting his attention. 

His ears turn back towards her first, then his smiling face. “Very. The Sisters must’ve been talented artists.” 

“They were. They would’ve liked you, I think,” Tooth says, fluttering downward so she could look him in the eyes. Talking about the Sisters is a delicate subject, even with him, so she gives him a small smile. He worries about what he says about her past sometimes. 

“I was starting to worry that you had forgotten,” she continues, changing the subject. 

“Me, forget today? Heh, nah.” Bunny smiles and gazes down at the floor briefly before looking back to her. He straightens the smoky grey vest he’s wearing. “Turns out making rabbit-shaped clothes is trickier than I thought.” 

“It looks like your hard work paid off,” she says, rubbing the silky fabric of one of the lapels between her fingers. Tooth floats backwards, adjusting one of the bracelets on her wrist. “You look very handsome, you know.” 

Tooth bites at her bottom lip before turning away to skips over to the phonograph she had borrowed from North. She flips the switch that sets the record spinning and gently drops the needle into place. As the grainy sound of a piano floats out into the room, Bunnymund bows to her. Tooth lands on the tiled floor and does her best curtsy with a couple of her tail feathers, grinning broadly. 

It’s a good night to learn how to waltz.


	9. Who does most of the cleaning?

Bunnymund wakes up in his bed, and that is how he knows something’s amiss. 

He hadn’t fallen asleep here, had he? No, he definitely hadn’t. The last thing he can remember is sitting at his work desk, painting a second layer onto a new batch of eggletts. He must have drifted off there, so how had he ended up in his bed? 

Bunny swings his legs out from underneath his quilt, ears twitching for some sort of audible hint. From downstairs, he can hear a familiar humming and he sighs, smiling. At least it isn’t some bizarre trick of the Boogeyman’s. 

The main room smells like fresh fruit and fresh air. Someone has dusted off the books on his shelf by the stairs, watered the plants, and opened the doors to let the eggletts wander through. He finds the mysterious cleaner someone when he pads into the kitchen. 

“Bunny!” The Tooth Fairy grins over her shoulder as he enters, fluttering around the old wood stove. Tiny teal fairies are whizzing in and out of the doorway, taking their orders from the queen before and flying off again. “I was just about to go wake you up!” 

“Tooth...” Bunnymund rubs a paw over his face, trying to get the sleep out of his eyes. Had Sandy paid him a visit last night too? “What’re you doing here?” 

“Well, ever since the whole Pitch thing I’ve been trying to get out into the field more – canines in Afghanistan, girls, don’t forget – and Monday is the day I have set for Australia.” Tooth pirouettes to retrieve one of the kettles on the stove as it starts to whistle. “Now, what kind of tea do you like in the morning?” 

“Wh—” Bunny has to shake his head in an attempt to clear it. It was too early for this. “Green tea, please, but _Tooth_ , that still doesn’t explain—” 

“A girl can drop by her to check up on her friends once in a while, can’t she?” Tooth asks, opening a cupboard and taking out a couple of painted teacups. “Now, where do you keep your tea...?” she muses, fluttering over his head to inspect more cupboards. 

Bunnymund can’t do much more than watch the Queen of Memories herself flit about his kitchen, doling out orders to her mini fairies while searching for the right bags of tea. Bunny tries again to ask her questions or just to say _anything_ to her, but she’s so caught up in her preparations, she just doesn’t seem to hear him. It isn’t until she pushes a cup and saucer of green tea and vanilla cookies that he gets to speak. 

“Sheila, you’re amazing.” 

Tooth blinks, taken aback. “What?” 

“Come all the way down here after a busy night just to do some of my housework and make me tea?” He chuckles, grinning warmly at her, no longer tired. “You’re amazing.” 

The queen smiles and turns a bit pink when she runs her fingers primly over the feathers in her crown. “Well, what’re friends for, right?” Tooth turns away to retrieve her own cup of tea, but Bunny catches a glimpse of the grin she’s trying to suppress. He decides not to mention it – Tooth gets flustered easily. 

The fairies know to leave her be when the two of them sit down to talk in a field of flowers. Breakfast is the one time the queen should never be interrupted, especially when she’s eating with a friend.


	10. What is their favourite non-sexual activity?

There’s an itch right behind his right ear, so he has to crouch down and scratch at with his hind leg. Tooth’s chatter with her fairies (bicuspids in Albania, molars in Eritrea) mingles with the nearby spring bubbling up from the Warren floor. “You ready, sheila?” 

“When you are!” She turns to him with a grin and the fairies flit off, understanding that they’re dismissed. Their queen doesn’t like to be bothered during her alone time. “Do you want to start, or should I?” 

“How ‘bout you go first this time? My place is really somethin’ to see.” 

“That’s what you say every time, Bunny,” Tooth replies, giving him a knowing smile. 

“And I’m right, ain’t I?” he asks as they make their way to the tunnel entrance. 

“ _Almost_ every time.” Bunnymund would reply to that, but then they’re in the shade of the Warren’s tunnels and the competition begins. 

It isn’t exactly a race – the real competition lies in the destinations. Tooth’s wings hum melodically as she navigates her way through the maze of tunnels. She’s fast, but he manages to stay just behind her. 

They emerge, and Bunny can tell from the thinner air that they’re in a mountain range. It’s a relatively low one though, as there are still plants everywhere he looks. But he forgets about the flora as soon as he sees the view she’s chosen. 

They look out on a huge city full of twinkling lights, skyscrapers disrupting the far-away horizon. It’s as though a field of stars have fallen to the Earth. 

“ _Crikey_ ,” he breathes, and Tooth giggles as she flutters to the ground beside him. 

Time seems to slow as they watch the lights in silence. Lights in windows blink on and off and car headlights glide down dark streets. Crickets chirp in the bushes around them. 

Neither of them are sure how long they’ve sat there before she turns to him. “Your place?” 

Bunny smiles at her in the starlight. “Right,” he says, and summons up the tunnel that will take them there. 

Tooth flies out of the tunnel and into complete darkness. “Bunny?” she asks. “Where are you? I can’t see in here.” 

“Right here, sheila.” She feels his warm paw envelop her hand. “Just give it a minute.” 

He’s right. Her eyes adjust and there is _some_ light, a dull wet shine on rocky walls. There’s a soft distant sound that she’s heard before. “I can hear the ocean,” she says. 

“Yep.” She can hear the soft smile in his voice. “C’mon.” He leads her through the dark. She can feel sand shift beneath their feet. 

Tooth gasps as he leads her in the direction of the dim light. 

They’re at the mouth of an oceanside cove. Large rocks by the entrance keep the inside of the cavern dry, but waves wash over them. A gentle breeze from the sea carries the smell of salt and seaweed towards them. The night sky is turning the misty grey of pre-dawn, turning the ocean silver. 

The two of them sit on the wet stones next to one another, letting the water wash over clawed paws and feathered feet alike. They watch the sun rise and Tooth tilts her head to rests her cheek against his shoulder. 

They’ll decide the winner later, like they always do. 

Their competition of finding the best views in the world often ends in ties.


	11. Who remembers to buy the milk?

Tonia tries to do the grocery shopping by herself sometimes. 

It’s not as though Aster lags behind with the cart or complains about how long she takes to decide between two very similar brands of yogurt. He keeps up with her eagerly and cuts through her fussing with a good amount of common sense, usually just by pointing out the price. 

The problem is that inspiration strikes whenever Aster is surrounded by supplies, or in the case of the grocery store, ingredients. It starts with him picking up sprigs of thyme and then he describes in detail a strawberry jam recipe he’s read about and before she knows it, she’s finding all the little things he needs and they go home without the milk. 

Trips to the grocery store are a little lonely without him, but at least she can concentrate on the list.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end! Thank you so much to everyone who took the time to read these silly drabbles, and extra thanks to those of you who left kudos! You guys are awesome. (ღ˘⌣˘ღ)


End file.
